Development of the PCR kit for simultaneous detection of Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes and Bacillus cereus in food

Pathogenic strains of Staphylococcus aureus (SA), Listeria monocytogenes (LM) and Bacillus cereus (BC) have been dominating causes of diarrhea disease and food-borne diseases in the world. The purpose of this study was to develop a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) kit to detect simultaneously these three enteric food-borne bacteria in food. With these three pairs of primers, multiplex polymerase chain reaction (M-PCR) method was established for the simultaneous detection SA, LM and BC. Ground beef samples contaminated artificially with various concentrations of these bacteria were used in this study. Based on the research, the PCR kit was developed. The results showed that these primers were highly specific for individual organisms and ground beef samples inoculated with as few as 1 cfu/g during 24 h of enrichment. This study provides a simple and rapid method for the simultaneous detection of SA, LM and BC in food.